Air swimming toy with steering device

ABSTRACT

An air swimming toy includes a toy body having a floating body and a tail body, a steering device including a motorized unit for generating a reciprocating power transmitting to the tail body so as to generate a wiggling motion thereof, and a remote controller remotely controlling the steering device to operate the motorized unit, wherein said motorized unit is activated to directly drive the tail body to move in order to steer and propel the toy body. In particular, the reciprocating power is directly transmitted from the motorized unit to the tail body via a gear unit to precisely and smooth drive the tail body moving in a wiggle motion.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a remote controlled flying toy, andmore particular to an air swimming toy, wherein a steering device of theair swimming toy directly transmits a reciprocating power to the toybody to steer and propel the toy body.

2. Description of Related Arts

A plurality of air-floating toys are known which are capable ofself-floating in to the air and propelling in the air via a remotecontrol. In particular, the air-floating toys are driven via a steeringmechanism by means of a wiggling motion. However, the conventionalair-floating toy is hard to be controlled its direction and elevation.An improved air-floating toy generally comprises a toy body, a drivingmechanism and a steering mechanism to control the altitude and thedirection of the air-floating toy respectively via a remote controller.

One type of steering mechanism is provided underneath the air-floatingtoy to control the direction and propelling movement thereof, whereinthe steering mechanism comprises a propelling unit for generating an airpropelling force to drive the air-floating toy forward or backward. Inparticular, the steering mechanism comprises a plurality ofairfoil-shaped blades supported at a bottom side of the air-floatingtoy, such as the airship propelling mechanism, wherein when the bladesare driven to rotate at one direction, the blades generate a forwardpropelling force to drive the air-floating toy forward. When the bladesare driven to rotate at an opposed direction, the blades generate abackward propelling force to drive the air-floating toy backward.However, such steering mechanism cannot provide a life-like swimmingmotion for the air-floating toy.

Another type of steering mechanism is provided at a tail portion of theair-floating toy to control the direction and propelling movementthereof, wherein the steering mechanism comprises a motor for generatinga sideward moving force to move the tail portion of the air-floating toysidewardly and a spring, such as a coil spring, for generating anopposed spring force to move the tail portion of the air-floating toyback to the original position. In other words, a wiggling motion of thetail portion of the air-floating toy is formed via the sequent order ofthe sideward moving force and the spring force. However, the sidewardmoving force and the spring force are unevenly applied to the tailportion. In particular, the sideward moving force will move the tailportion of the air-floating toy generally while the spring force willmove the tail portion of the air-floating toy rapidly. As a result, thewiggling motion of the tail portion of the air-floating toy cannotprovide a life-like swimming motion for the air-floating toy. Inaddition, the spring can be easily detached from the tail portion of theair-floating toy when the air-floating toy is drastically dropped on thefloor or by any strong impact. In other words, the alignment of thespring will be off due to the impact such that tail portion of theair-floating toy will not be smoothly moved in such wiggling motion.Furthermore, the wiggling angle of the tail portion of the air-floatingtoy is limited by the spring. When the wiggling angle is increased, thespring must provide enough restoring force to push the tail portion ofthe air-floating toy back to its position. Therefore, the life span ofthe spring will be shortened. If the wiggling angle is minimized toprolong the life span of the spring, the wiggling motion of the tailportion of the air-floating toy may not able to propel the air-floatingtoy.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The invention is advantageous in that it provides an air swimming toy,wherein a steering device of the directly transmits a reciprocatingpower to the toy body to steer and propel the toy body.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,wherein the steering device comprises a motorized unit to generate thereciprocating power to steer and propel the toy body.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,wherein the reciprocating power is transmitted by a gear unit to thetail body of the toy body to generate the wiggling motion thereof.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,wherein the tail body of the toy body is coupled with a swing shaft togenerate the wiggling motion through the reciprocating power. Therefore,the wiggling angle of the tail body of the toy body can be maximized andthe tail body of the toy body can be evenly moved at two sides thereof.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,wherein no spring force or resilient force is directly applied to thetail body of the toy body to prevent the steering device being detachedfrom the toy body accidentally or the malfunction of the steeringdevice.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,wherein the size of the steering device is relatively small to minimizethe installation space at the tail body of the toy body so as to keepthe aesthetic appearance of the air swimming toy.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,wherein only the motorized unit is driven to create the propelling forceto minimize the noise from the steering device during operation.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,which does not require to alter the original structural design of thetoy body, so as to minimize the manufacturing cost of the air swimmingtoy incorporating with the steering device.

Another advantage of the invention is to provide an air swimming toy,wherein no expensive or complicated structure is required to employ inthe present invention in order to achieve the above mentioned objects.Therefore, the present invention successfully provides an economic andefficient solution for providing a stable and silent operation for thesteering device to steer and propel of the air swimming toy.

Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparentfrom the description which follows, and may be realized by means of theinstrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appendedclaims.

According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects andadvantages are attained by an air swimming toy which comprises:

a toy body arranged for being floated in the air, wherein the toy bodycomprises a floating body and a tail body movably coupled with thefloating body;

a steering device which comprises motorized unit for generating areciprocating power transmitting to the tail body so as to generate awiggling motion thereof, and

a remote controller remotely controlling the steering device to operatethe motorized unit, wherein said motorized unit is activated to directlydrive the tail body to move in order to steer and propel the toy body.

Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from aconsideration of the ensuing description and drawings.

These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed description,the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air swimming toy according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the steeringdevice being controlled by a remote controller.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the steering device of the air swimmingtoy according to the above preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the steering device of the air swimming toyaccording to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the gear unit of the steering device ofthe air swimming toy according to the above preferred embodiment of thepresent invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings, an air swimming toy accordingto a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated,wherein the air swimming toy comprises a toy body 10, a driving device20, a remote controller 30, and a steering device 40.

The toy body 10 comprises a floating body 11 and a tail body 12 movablycoupled with the floating body 11, wherein the floating body 11 isfilled with a particular gas, such as helium, in order to float in theair. In particular, the toy body 10 further comprises a valve 13provided at the floating body 11 for filling the gas thereinto. Thefloating body 11 is made of high quality, durable nylon material thatwill stay inflated for a relatively long period of time, such as a week.The gas can be refilled to the floating body 11 via the valve 13 toinflate the floating body 11.

Accordingly, when the tail body 12 is moved in a wiggling motion, thetoy body 10 will move forward slowly and smoothly as the swimming motionin the air. The tail body 12 is also formed as a steering member of thetoy body 10 that when the tail body 12 is moved sidewardly, the toy body10 will turn correspondingly.

The driving device 20 of the present invention is used for controllingan altitude of the toy body 10 but not the forward driving movementthereof. In other words, the driving device 20 of the present inventionis arranged for controllably elevating the toy body 10 and forcontrollably dropping down the toy body 10. The driving device 20 iscoupled at a bottom side of the floating body 11 to elevate or drop downthe air swimming toy so as to control the up and down movement thereof.

The steering device 40 provided at a connection between the floatingbody 11 and the tail body 12 to drive the tail body 12 to move in awiggling motion. In other words, the steering device 40 not only forms amovable joint to connect the tail body 12 to the floating body 11 butalso forms a propelling unit to drive and steering the toy body 10forward.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the steering device 40 comprises a motorizedunit 41 for generating a reciprocating power transmitting to the tailbody 12 so as to generate a wiggling motion thereof. Accordingly, themotorized unit 41 is a DC motor and is controlled to generate areversible rotating power as the reciprocating power to drive the tailbody 12 to swing in a reciprocating manner with respect to the floatingbody 11. The motorized unit 41 comprises an output shaft 411 beingdriven to rotate in a reciprocating manner.

As shown in FIG. 4, the steering device 40 further comprises a gearhousing 42 supported at the floating body 11 and a gear unit 43 receivedin the gear housing 42, wherein the gear unit 42 is operatively coupledto the motorized unit 41 for directly transmitting the reciprocatingpower to the tail body 11. In particular, the gear unit 43 is coupled atthe output shaft 411 of the motorized unit 41 for transmitting thereciprocating power therefrom.

According to the preferred embodiment, the gear unit 43 comprises aplurality of driving gears having different diameter sizes to transmitthe reciprocating power from the motorized unit 41. As shown in FIG. 4,the driving gears are configured to convert the rotational speed of theoutput shaft 411 of the motorized unit 41 into a swinging motion and tocontrol the wiggling angle of the tail body 12. In other words, when theoutput shaft 411 of the motorized unit 41 is rotated at a predeterminedangle, the tail body 12 is precisely driven to wiggle at a predeterminedwiggling angle with respect to the floating body 11. Therefore, thewiggling angle of the tail body 12, i.e. the angle of the tail body 12being wiggled from one side to the other side, will be maximized. Inaddition, through the gear unit 43, the reciprocating power from themotorized unit 41 can be evenly and smoothly transmitted to the tailbody 12 so as to smoothly wiggle the tail body 12 from one side to theother side. Furthermore, the toy body 10 can be steered via thedirection of the tail body 12 via the motorized unit 41 that when thetail body 12 is driven to wiggle at one side via the rotational power ofthe motorized unit 41, the toy body 10 will turn at the correspondingdirection.

The steering device 40 further comprises a base frame 44 affixed to thefloating body 11 to support the motorized unit 41 thereat and a wigglingframe 45 coupled to the tail body 12, wherein the wiggling frame 45 ismovably coupled with the base frame 44 via the gear unit 43. Inparticular, the wiggling frame 45 is operatively driven by the motorizedunit 41 to drive the tail body 12 moving in a wiggling motion.

According to the preferred embodiment, the base frame 44 has a circularshape and is coupled at a rear portion of the floating body 11, whereinthe gear housing 42 is coupled at the center of the base frame 44. Thesteering device 40 further comprises a motor housing 46 supported at thebase frame 44 at a position adjacent to the gear housing 42, wherein themotorized unit 41 is received at the motor housing 46. The output shaft411 of the motorized unit 41 is extended from the motor housing 46 tothe gear housing 42 so as to operatively couple with the gear unit 42therewithin.

The motor housing 46 is coupled at the base frame 44 at a position thatthe output shaft 411 of the motorized unit 41 is radially extended withrespect to the base frame 44 in order to couple with the gear unit 42.

It is worth mentioning that the motorized unit 41 and the gear unit 43are received at the motor housing 46 and the gear housing 42, which aresupported at the base frame 44. In other words, the overall weight ofthe motorized unit 41, the gear housing 42, the gear unit 43, and themotor housing 46 are supported at the base frame 44 via the floatingbody 11. Therefore, the overall weight at the wiggling frame 45 will beminimized to enable the reciprocating power from the motorized unit 41transmitting to the wiggling frame 45 effectively.

In order to couple the wiggling frame 45 to the gear unit 43, thesteering device 40 further comprises a swing shaft 47 extended throughthe gear housing 42 to operatively couple with the gear unit 43, whereinthe swing shaft 47 is driven to rotate reciprocatingly by thereciprocating power of the motorized unit 41 through the gear unit 43.In particular, the wiggling frame 45 is coupled at the swing shaft 47,such that when the swing shaft 47 is driven to rotate in a reciprocatingmanner, the wiggling frame 45 is moved in a wiggling motion.

According to the preferred embodiment, the wiggling frame 45 comprises aU-shaped retention member 451 and two elongated retention arms 452inclinedly extended from the retention member 451 to form a V-shapedconfiguration. Accordingly, the retention member 451 has two couplingends coupled at two end portions of the swing shaft 47 respectively,wherein the gear housing 42 is positioned between the two coupling endsof the retention member 451 to minimize the distance between the baseframe 44 and the wiggling frame 45.

The tail body 12 is coupled at the wiggling frame 45 via the retentionarms 452, wherein two side edges of the tail body 12 are detachablycoupled with the retention arms 452, such as by clipping, respectivelyso as to securely couple the tail body 12 with the floating body 11 viathe steering device 40.

As shown in FIG. 2, the driving device 20 further comprises a batterycompartment 24 for replaceably receiving a battery thereat toelectrically connect to the motorized unit 41 via a connection cable.The battery compartment 24 is provided at the bottom side of the toybody 10.

According to the preferred embodiment, the remote controller 30 isremotely controlling the driving device 20 and the steering device 40.In particular, the remote controller 30 is wirelessly control thedriving device 20 and the steering device 40. Therefore, the remotecontroller 30 is arranged to control the altitude of the toy body 10 viathe driving device 20, and is arranged to control the steering andpropelling of the toy body 10 via the steering device 40.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the remote controller 30 comprises a handheldcontrol 31 and a remote receiver 32 wirelessly connected to the handheldcontrol 31, wherein the remote receiver 32 is housed in the drivingdevice 20 and is operatively linked to the motorized unit 41 to controlan operation of the motorized unit 41. Preferably, the handheld control32 is wirelessly linked to the remote receiver 32 via radio frequency(RF) connection, Infrared (IF) connection or other wireless connections.Accordingly, the remote receiver 32 comprises a control circuit and aremote antenna electrically coupled thereto, wherein the motorized unit41 is operatively coupled at the control circuit of the remote receiver32. Therefore, when the remote receiver 32 receives a control signalfrom the handheld control 31, the motorized unit 41 is activated tocontrol the operation of the motorized unit 41. In addition, the drivingdevice 20 is also operatively linked to the control circuit of theremote receiver 32, such that when the remote receiver 32 receives acontrol signal from the handheld control 31, the driving device 20 isactivated to control the altitude of air swimming toy.

It is worth mentioning that the rotational speed of the output shaft 411of the motorized unit 41 can be controllably adjusted via the remotecontroller 30, wherein when the rotational speed of the output shaft 411is increased, the tail body 12 will be correspondingly driven faster ina wiggling motion.

One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of thepresent invention as shown in the drawings and described above isexemplary only and not intended to be limiting.

It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have beenfully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown anddescribed for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structuralprinciples of the present invention and is subject to change withoutdeparture from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes allmodifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An air swimming toy, comprising: a toy bodyarranged for being floated in the air, wherein said toy body comprises afloating body and a tail body movably coupled with said floating body; asteering device which comprises a motorized unit for generating areciprocating power transmitting to said tail body so as to generate awiggling motion thereof; and a remote controller remotely controllingsaid steering device to operate said motorized unit, wherein saidmotorized unit is activated to directly drive said tail body to move inorder to steer and propel said toy body.
 2. The air swimming toy, asrecited in claim 1, wherein said motorized unit is a DC motor and iscontrolled to generate a reversible rotating power as said reciprocatingpower to drive said tail body to swing in a reciprocating manner.
 3. Theair swimming toy, as recited in claim 1, wherein said steering devicefurther comprises a gear unit operatively coupled to said motorized unitfor directly transmitting said reciprocating power to said tail body. 4.The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 2, wherein said steeringdevice further comprises a gear unit operatively coupled to saidmotorized unit for directly transmitting said reciprocating power tosaid tail body.
 5. The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 1, whereinsaid steering device further comprises a base frame affixed to saidfloating body to support said motorized unit thereat and a wigglingframe which is coupled to said tail body and is operatively driven bysaid motorized unit to drive said tail body moving in a wiggling motion.6. The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 2, wherein said steeringdevice further comprises a base frame affixed to said floating body tosupport said motorized unit thereat and a wiggling frame which iscoupled to said tail body and is operatively driven by said motorizedunit to drive said tail body moving in a wiggling motion.
 7. The airswimming toy, as recited in claim 4, wherein said steering devicefurther comprises a base frame affixed to said floating body to supportsaid motorized unit thereat and a wiggling frame which is coupled tosaid tail body and is operatively driven by said motorized unit to drivesaid tail body moving in a wiggling motion.
 8. The air swimming toy, asrecited in claim 5, wherein said steering device further comprises agear housing supported at a center of said base frame to receive saidgear unit in said gear housing, wherein said wiggling frame is movablycoupled with said gear unit to move in a wiggling motion.
 9. The airswimming toy, as recited in claim 6, wherein said steering devicefurther comprises a gear housing supported at a center of said baseframe to receive said gear unit in said gear housing, wherein saidwiggling frame is movably coupled with said gear unit to move in awiggling motion.
 10. The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 7,wherein said steering device further comprises a gear housing supportedat a center of said base frame to receive said gear unit in said gearhousing, wherein said wiggling frame is movably coupled with said gearunit to move in a wiggling motion.
 11. The air swimming toy, as recitedin claim 8, wherein said steering device further comprises a swing shaftextended through said gear housing to operatively couple with said gearunit, wherein said wiggling frame is coupled at said swing shaft, suchthat when said swing shaft is driven to rotate in a reciprocatingmanner, said wiggling frame is moved in a wiggling motion.
 12. The airswimming toy, as recited in claim 9, wherein said steering devicefurther comprises a swing shaft extended through said gear housing tooperatively couple with said gear unit, wherein said wiggling frame iscoupled at said swing shaft, such that when said swing shaft is drivento rotate in a reciprocating manner, said wiggling frame is moved in awiggling motion.
 13. The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 10,wherein said steering device further comprises a swing shaft extendedthrough said gear housing to operatively couple with said gear unit,wherein said wiggling frame is coupled at said swing shaft, such thatwhen said swing shaft is driven to rotate in a reciprocating manner,said wiggling frame is moved in a wiggling motion.
 14. The air swimmingtoy, as recited in claim 11, wherein said wiggling frame comprises aU-shaped retention member having two coupling ends coupled at two endportions of said swing shaft respectively, wherein said gear housing ispositioned between said two coupling ends of said retention member. 15.The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 13, wherein said wigglingframe comprises a U-shaped retention member having two coupling endscoupled at two end portions of said swing shaft respectively, whereinsaid gear housing is positioned between said two coupling ends of saidretention member.
 16. The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 7,wherein said steering device further comprises a motor housing supportedat said base frame to receive said motorized unit at said motor housing.17. The air swimming toy, as recited in claim 15, wherein said steeringdevice further comprises a motor housing supported at said base frame toreceive said motorized unit at said motor housing.
 18. The air swimmingtoy, as recited in claim 1, wherein said remote controller comprises ahandheld control and a remote receiver which is positioned underneath ofsaid floating body and is wirelessly connected to said handheld controlto control an operation of said motorized unit.
 19. The air swimmingtoy, as recited in claim 4, wherein said remote controller comprises ahandheld control and a remote receiver which is positioned underneath ofsaid floating body and is wirelessly connected to said handheld controlto control an operation of said motorized unit.
 20. The air swimmingtoy, as recited in claim 17, wherein said remote controller comprises ahandheld control and a remote receiver which is positioned underneath ofsaid floating body and is wirelessly connected to said handheld controlto control an operation of said motorized unit.